Sky writing device



April 25, 1939. R. CONNQR 2,156,010

SKY WRITING DEVICE Filed April 26, 19,37 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 WRHTER kSKY- ]ob er? l60727202* |-vENToR ATTORNEYS April 25, 1939. Y R, CNNOR Y .2,156,010 l SKY WRITING DEVICE Filed April 2e', 1957 s sheets-sheet 2 Robe/*z* Connor INVENTOR jo jo Avonn'svs April 25, 1939. R. CONNOR I 2,156,010

SKY WRITING DEVICE Filed April 2e, 1957 s seets-sheet 3 Robe/Z C 01212 or mjy/@m2,

./6 10 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 25, 1939 l UNITED STATES PATENT AOFFICE SKY WRITING `DEVICE Robert Connor, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application April '26, 1937, Serial No. 139,042

5 Claims. (Cl. 40-127) This invention relates to visual signalling, and In all the embodiments, the essential pririciple especially to signalling, informing, or advertisinvolved is that Uf taking a quantity of gaseous ing by means of a gaseous medium or vapor, medium sufiicient to constitute the entire sign standing out against the sky or other background, when fully expanded, segregating it in one mass or and contrasting therewith. More particularly, body, and then forcing the entire gaseous-body ,5 the invention is concerned with the production thru means for dividing the mass into legible and control of legible formations of a smoke or formations at the outlet of the device, thus formgas in the sky, popularly known as sky-writing. ing a sign complete in all details but of a diminu- The chief object of the invention is to protive size, and then forcing this simulacrum sudl vide methods and means for improving upon, or denly and bodily outwardly into the surrounding lo limiting, the present necessity for employing a medium. and allowing it to expand. It furtherY moving aircraft of the airplane type in order to comprises manual, remote, and automatic conproduce sky-writing, whereby to obviate the need trol of the production of the design; and also for skilled operatives and expensive aircraft and production of successive seri-es of the same, or vother apparatus, instead making it possible for different -but intellectually connected, designs, l

even a layman to do sky-writing, and to do it over at regularly spaced, controlled intervals in sucor in areas where the manoeuvring necessary to cessive bursts or emissions, so that before the airplane sky-writing is prohibited at any altitude rst emission has been dissipated by air curwhere the sign would be effective. rent or the like, there will be another, or several Another object of the invention is to provide other, designs expanding into complete visibility. 20 methods and means whereby sky-writing can be In the nbodments shown in Figs. l and 2, the

done in, or from, a fixed location or position, and device of Figs. 3 and 4 is mounted in several the whole sign formed instantaneously, wheredifferent ways. In Fig. 1 the device A is shown as by to eliminate the usually highly disadvantahaving a cradle mount attached to the side of a geous drifting or blurring of the sign which usually set-back portion of an oiiice building, the cradle begins before the writing is complete. and mount being such as to lay the axis of the A particular object of the invention is to procannon-like device A substantially vertically. In vide an apparatus for sky-writing which will be the position A of Fig. 1, the device is mounted so simplified, and manufacturable of such inexon horizontally extending cradles, but also with pensive material, that it can readily be made on a its axis vertical. In both positions, the mount-` 30 large scale in order to constitute it a stock article.. ing adapts the device to use with perfect safety The other objects and advantages of the invenin crowed building zones where persons passing tion will be made manifest as this specification on the sidewalks sub-adjacent to the building proceeds. shown can readily perceive the display emitted as Some of the presently preferred embodiments of they Walk along the Sidewalk- 35 the invention are. shown in the accompanying In Fig- 2 the Same device as iS ShOWn in FigS. 3

drawings, and described in the following matter, and 4 is mounted for suspension beneath an but by way of exemplication only,l the invenaircraft, by means Of mOllnting means A to be tion being limited in its embodiments only by the later parliulalized. scope of the subjoined claims. 'I'he device of Figs. 3 and 4 constitutes the re- 40 In these drawings: mote, or automatic, control form of my device, as Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a building contra-distinguished from the manually conhaving one form of the device in use thereon, trolled or portable form shown in Fig. 5.

two of the alternative locations of the device being y'I'he large form of my device comprises a casshown; ing or shield 5, here shown as simulating the 45 Fig. 2 shows one form of the device mounted on Outline 0f an Old-fashioned piece `0f OrdnanCe, an aerostat; and enclosing a prime-mover B here shown as a Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal, substantially single cylinder internal combustion engine havcentral section of the `form of device shown in ing a vertical cylinder B and an elongated crank Figs. 1 and 2; v case C, continued further in the form of a cham- 50 Fig. 4 is an velevational view, partly broken ber or compartment l. The internal combustion away, of the same device from another angle; engine has, in the usual manner, a cylinder 2, a Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of another piston 2', a connecting rod I'l, a crank shaft i9, form of the device, and f an inlet valve 30, an outlet valve 3|, a conven- Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a part of the device. tional type of ignition device 2|, a suitable car- 55 |4, valve tappets, and valve springs.

gine.

under pressure is buretor 2|', etc., and cam means 8' on the crank shaft for operating the valves and the ignition properly, by means of cam followers, tappet rods `The exhaust valve 3| has an appropriate type of conduit 32 connected therewith.

A suitable container 3 for gaseous material mounted on the side of the engine, and has an ejector outlet 20 opening into the conduit 32, and adapted to be operated by the exhaust occurring once in a cycle of the en- Suitable spur gears 9 and 9 are provided in connection with the crank shaft and one of them, 9', is connected with a butter-fly valve 6, in the conduit 32, in such a manner as to be opened when the exhaust gases of each cycle enter the conduit 32, in order to allow the mixture of exhaust gases and the increasedly vaporizable gases in the container 3 to pass into chamber I. The crank shaft I9 also operates a connecting rod I8, connected to a piston 22 suitably packed oi from the chamber I, substantially as shown, and having a gas tight piston head 4 reciprocable therein.

'Ihe lower end of the compartment I is openand has a stencilling member I hingedat one side thereof and clampable by wing nuts and' pivot bolts I6 at the other side.

The construction just described is adaped to be mounted on a suspended support by means of axles I3 connected to members II, preferably including shock absorbing means, and suspension points 24, as well as mounting plates I2, whereby the device may be mounted as shown in Fig. 2, with the recoil prevented from reaching the suspending craft.

The container 3 is adapted to contain any kind of sky-writing or display-making gaseous medium, such as that which is at present employed, for example, a fluid such as gaseous sulfur trioxide, phosphorous pentachloride, titanium tetrachloride and the like. As the exhaust valve 3| is opened during the cycle of the engine the exhaust gases passing the ejector 20 induce a predetermined amount of gas out of the container I, past the open butter-fly valve 6, and into the compartment just as the piston head reaches it. The piston head, operated in due course of the cycle of the engine, thereupon suddenly urges the entire mass' of gaseous material needed for a sign against the apertures I0' in the stencil head, the gaseous medium then emerging as a perfect replica of the desired display 'as cut in the stencils shown in Fig. 6 but in compact, miniature form. This disc then floats upwardly or is projected downwardly, as the case may be, the

gas expanding all the while until it reaches the maximum degree of legibility, whereupon it begins to lose form. f

It ls to be understood that this device can be mounted on other bases than the offsets or`other portions of ofIlce buildings shown in Figul, and than stationary aircraft; for example, it may be mounted on moving aircraft and the decks of ships, etc., for nare or true signalling purposes.

The device shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is an adaptation of the principle for manual control, and is essentially a. flare pistol or rocket pistol, comprising an elongated chamber or barrel 40 having a stencil head 4| and securing means 42 on the end thereof, and a chamber-43 for a cartridge 44 consisting essentially of a propellant chamber 45 containing a mild explosive and a chamber 43v containing the gaseous medium to be used in the sky-writing procedure. The pistol also Ihas a ring pin 46, and a breakable breech 41 for'loading the cartridges therein, as well as a handle 48 and trigger 49.

It is usually desirable, in all forms of the device, to first attract and focus the public attention to thedesired point before commencing the display, and tothis end a detonator can be applied to the pistol to rst attract attention before firing the cartridge, or in the case ofthe device of Figs. 3 and 4, the spark may be so retarded as to cause a back-fire before beginning the'display, in order to attract attention.

It is to be noted, with reference to the form shown in Fig. 5, that it is Well adapted for use before a crowd, by one standing on a level with the crowd, which may, for example, be seated in a grand-stand, the pistol being fired horizontally, and the display disc then being projected to stand vertically, whereas with the device of Figs. 3 and 4, the discs are projected singly or successively to lie in a horizontal plane.

I claim:

l. A visual-signalling device, comprising a substantially cylindrical casing, a container for gaseous material formed of and positioned near an end of said casing, a prime-mover of the type having an exhaust, said exhaust being adapted to induce a predetermined quantity of gas from the .container at timed intervals, a chamber for receiving said gas and exhaust, means for urging a mass of the gas mixture outwardly of said chamber, and means comprising a relatively diminutive foraminous simuiacrum mounted on the end of said casing for dividing the mass of gas mixture into a pre-formed but miniature representation of said sign before it leaves the device.

2. A device for.skywriting, comprising means for containing sky-Writing smoke, a foraminous stencil-plate, means for discharging said smoke thru the stencil at timed and controllable intervals,l and means for suspending the device from an aerostat with the ejection-zone pointing downwardly.

3..A device for sky-writing, comprising means for containing sky-writing smoke, a relatively diminutive foraminoussimulacrum, means for discharging said smoke thru said simulacrum at timed and controllable intervals, and` means for mounting the device on an aeronautical device with the ejection-zone pointing downwardly.

4. A device of the type described for sky-writing predetermined characters comprising a prime mover having a substantially cylindrical combustion chamber, a piston slidable therein, a rotatably supported crank shaft associated with said piston'whereby reciprocating movement of said piston is translated into rotative movement of said shaft, means associated with said shaft for periodically introducing combustible material in said cylinder, igniting said material and removfor periodically altering the ow of gases in said exhaust line, means associated with said line for i receiving and momentarily retaining a predetermined mass of sky-writing uid and exhaust gas mixture cbmprising a substantially cylindrical casing, a foraminous relatively diminutive simulacrum of the characters to .be sky-written carrie'd on and substantially closing one end of said casing, and meansA whereby during operation of the prime mover predetermined masses of material are intermittently passed from said exhaust line into said casing and, after subdivision of themass by passage through said foraminous simulacrum, ejected 'from the device to produce, upon expansion, the desired legible character.

5. A device of the type described for sky-writing predetermined characters comprising a prime mover having a substantially cylindrical com,- bustion chamber, a piston slidable therein, a rotatably supported crank shaft associated With said piston whereby reciprocating movement of said piston is translated into rotative movement of said shaft, means associated with said shaft for periodically introducing combustible material in said cylinder, igniting said material and removing the products of combustion, an exhaust line from said prime mover, a container for sky-writing iluid associated with said exhaust line whereby fluid from said container can enter said exhaust line, means associated with said shaft for periodically altering the flow of gases and in said exhaust line, means associated with said line for receiving and momentarily retaining a predetermined mass of sky-writing uid and exhaust gasmixture comprising a substantially cylindrical casing, a foraminous relatively diminutive simulacrum of the characters to be sky-Written carried on and substantially closing one end ofsaid casing, an opening in said casing adjacent said simulacrum communicating with said exhaust line, a piston slidable in said casing and means for imparting reciprocating movement thereto comprising members associating said piston and the crank shaft of said prime mover whereby, during operation ofA the prime mover, predetermined masses of material are intermittently passed from said exhaust line into said casing and, by movement of said piston.

' after subdivision of the mass by passage through said foraminous simulacrum, ejected from the device to produce, upon expansion, the desired legible character.

ROBERT CONNOR. 

